Arabian Coffee.
The decrease in the cultivation of coffee and the present status thereof in the Philippines show conclusively that Arabian coffee cannot be profitably grown here below an altitude of 800 meters. At and above this elevation the climate is so favorable for the growth of the plant that when kept in good condition it is capable of resisting the attack of the blight sufficiently to yield a profitable crop. Nevertheless, the planting of Arabian coffee on a large scale is not recommended even here, because the disease is everywhere present, waiting for a favorable opportunity to spread, and a drought, typhoon, or in fact anything that would devitalize the plants, would be sure to render them liable to a severe attack that might wipe out an entire plantation or district.
It is true that Arabian coffee grows below an altitude of 800 meters; in fact, coffee bushes are found at sea level, but a prospective investor should always remember that there is a very great difference between being able to merely grow coffee and to produce it in such quantities that its cultivation becomes profitable. This cannot be done at a low elevation. It is perhaps well to state here that exhaustive experiments have so far failed to yield a fungicide or spray by which the coffee blight can be satisfactorily controlled in the field.
Everything considered then, only in certain districts of the Mountain Province and on the table lands of Mindanao may Arabian coffee be successfully and profitably cultivated to any considerable extent.